It’s a busy world.
Everywhere around us, people are rushing around trying to make life work. Some spend time following social media posts to find inspiration and motivation. Some have even chosen mentors and role models.
Some attend business and family life seminars, looking for that one thing they believe can give them a good start towards the life of their dreams. Some do get lucky and things do work out according to plan, while some are stepped on, used as ladders in the process, and are forgotten soon after.
The bottom line is, everyone everywhere is chasing something. But the critical question to ask when pursuing our goals and dreams is: where did this goal actual come from?
Did it come from me, or someone else?
There is a lot we should consider before we work on goals of any kind. It is especially important to remember that we are part of a community, a family, or other social groups, and that our pursuits affect those around us.
We all know the metaphor of climbing the mountain, at which our dreams are at the top. But how often do we consider whether this is even the right mountain for us?
Ask yourself: are these dreams of mine…really mine?
Be Careful of the Things You Chase After
It is imperative that one sets the right targets for themselves, and that they aim for the most appropriate goals.
We mean “right” in the sense that, as much as people around us are engaging in various activities that have proven to be fruitful, it does not mean that we will find happiness and fulfillment in them.
The world all around us is promoting different kinds of lifestyles and standards; some of which have been adopted by people who felt the pressure and played along regardless of their crippled mental and financial states. Some people have envied the life displayed in various social media platforms.
With that vision of another happier life, they proceed to declare themselves failures without considering how artificial life has become for those they look up to, and the untold stories behind the smiles and flashy lives displayed everywhere around us.
The point being driven here is that, as we try to achieve our goals in life, it is essential to think through what we are getting ourselves into. This depends mostly on how we understand why we are in our current place, and how we understand who we want to become, as well as the role we play in our social circles.
If you are planning to have a family, which type of person is the missing puzzle meant to help you have the best family possible? Would it be better, when choosing a life partner, to look for someone with whom you deeply connect and adds value to your life, rather than something fleeting in the moment?
In your social circle, have you considered using your strengths to contribute to the energy and attitude of your friends, which in turn makes the environment better for you too? Would it be better to develop your own sense of charisma and integrity, over a set of artificial traits such as good looks or social status?
If you are planning a career and setting your life principles, how do these things align with your other goals? Could choosing a career that aligns with how you want to act and feel on a daily basis be more worthwhile than focusing on monetary value and social status?
In other words, are we more focused on growth, on passion, on contribution? Or are we more focused on becoming the perfect image that someone else has set, to seek approval from others?
We don’t ask these questions out of condemnation, but because the truth is that sometimes we fail or struggle in life because the lives we are living aren’t even our own.
We deal with dysfunctional families, jobs we do not even like and fights with our partners, simply because we dive into things we don’t see the entire picture of. We live other people’s ideas and dreams.
We have allowed the world to make us believe we are not enough and our dreams are not valid to today’s trends.
When we say climb the right mountain for you, we mean to aim for the goal that fits your unedited personality perfectly. A mountain that forces you to grow as a person without losing a part of ourselves.
The kind of dream that doesn’t drive you to do things that aren’t who you are.
The best part about choosing the right mountain is that once the principles are set and the right steps are taken, everything else just falls into place. It doesn’t mean that one will have it easy in life, but when you’re climbing the right mountain, you know you’re on the right path for you.
